This invention relates to a sealing device for an endoscope, and more particularly to a device for effecting sealing between an endoscope guide hole and an operating wire inserted thereinto, in which the operating wire turns a rotary member disposed in a distal end portion of an endoscope in order to define the direction in which that forward portion of a medical instrument is to be directed in a body cavity.
An endoscope enabling a treating implement (hereinafter referred to as a "medical instrument") such as forceps to be inserted into a body cavity from the distal end generally comprises, as illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2, an observation optical system 2 and illumination optical system 3 both set in the distal end portion 1, and a leading chamber 5 for a medical instrument 4 provided in the proximity thereof. A rotary member 6 for defining the direction in which the medical instrument 4 is guided into a body cavity is pivoted by a pin 7 to the inner wall of the medical instrument-leading chamber 5. An operating wire 8 is connected to one end of the rotary member 6. When pulled at an operating section positioned in the proximal end portion of an endoscope, the operating wire 8 properly turns the rotary member 6. The operating wire 8 extends to the operating section through a guide hole defined by a different guide pipe 10 from the channel through which the medical instrument 4 is conducted.
With the prior art endoscope, however, the forward end of the guide pipe 10 is opened, as shown in FIG. 2, to the internal space 11 of the medical instrument-leading chamber 5. Further, the operating wire 8 is loosely inserted into the guide pipe 10 for smooth movement therethrough. Consequently, a gap 12 generally arises between the operating wire 8 and the guide pipe 10.
Therefore, the prior art endoscope had the drawbacks that coelom liquid washing water or liquid filth tended to be carried through the gap 12 into the guide pipe 10 during the operation of the endoscope; the gap 12 was too narrow to fully wash off the above-mentioned foreign matter brought into the guide pipe 10 with the resultant failure to carry out full disinfection; and washing water sometimes passed through the gap 12 into the operating section of the endoscope, leading to the damage of the operating section.